This invention relates to an improved electronic musical instrument which has any desired compass of musical sounds and which produces justly intoned pitches based on any desired pitch or note and which is so constructed that the basic pitch or "do" (of do, re, me, etc.) can be changed at will during performance.
One aspect of this invention involves the application of technology to solve a musical problem that occupied the interest of Pythagoras, Bach, Helmholtz, and many others. The problem is this: when an instrument that produces fixed pitches is tuned so that the intervals in one key signature are pure (naturally intoned or beatless), the instrument is out of tune when played in other key signatures. Such instruments are usually tuned to equal temperament in which none of the intervals (except the octaves) is pure or beatless. In this invention all the pitches are tuned at once so that the intervals remain pure when the key signature is changed.
It is well known that all fixed pitch musical instruments are capable of producing a justly intoned scale in only one key signature and that accordingly to achieve the ability to produce scales of different key signatures, it is presently the practice to deliberately detune or temper the intervals so that the instrument is equally out of tune in all key signatures. This is known as equal temperament.
Also it is well known to serious musicians that the ratio of frequences of any two preselected notes which comprise a given musical interval is independent of the notes that are chosen or in other words that the key frequency ratio remains unchanged when the interval is transposed into any or all other key signatures.
In view of the fact that Pythagorus, centuries ago showed that it was mathematically impossible to justly tune a fixed pitch instrument so that it would be justly tuned in all key signatures, efforts to deal with this problem, for the most part, have been directed to different systems for tempering the scale. All of these have been compromises. More recently, since the advent of electronics, an instrument has been developed which can be programmed by moving numerous switches with the result that it can produce justly intoned pitches in certain key signatures, but in only one key for any given disposition of the programmed switches.
Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved polyphonic musical instrument which is capable of producing justly intoned pitches, scales, or chords and at the same time is capable of changing to any key signature or any intermediate tonality at will during performance of the instrument.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an instrument of the type referred to, the keys of which have individual soft-loud characteristics like a piano and unlike a harpsichord or organ. This is accomplished by providing electrical digital contact points which are touched by the fingers of the performer and by including the body of the performer as a part of the electric circuit whereby the light or firm pressure exerted by the performer, when touching each particular contact point, produces a correspondingly soft or loud sound. Thus, during performance, the fingers of the performer and the digital contact points respectively function as a combined switch and variable resistance under the direct control of the performer. Also as the performer's body is connected into the circuit by a second contact, when the second contact is established between a bare foot or other bare portion of the performer's body capable of exerting variable pressure on such contact during the performance, a further control is made available. This latter contact can be employed to reduce or increase the loudness of the instrument as a whole and thus provide an additional control over and above the controlled variations produced by the fingers on the contact points, respectively.
With this construction, it is the contact points collectively that constitute the part of the instrument that is manipulated by the performer when performing on the instrument and therefore it is the collection of contact points that takes the place of the keyboard or the like employed on pianos and organs.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel and highly useful construction for the contact point assembly, which is preferably in the form of a cylinder or the like, of a size to be readily accommodated in the hands of the performer and having a multiplicity of separate contact points disposed with respect to each other on the surface of the cylinder so that they readily may be touched by the fingers of the performer for sounding the desired notes or chords.
It is a further object of this invention to so construct and mount the cylinder that at the same time the notes or chords are being sounded by the performer, the cylinder is capable of being manually moved bodily, as by rotation on its own axis, or otherwise, to change the key signature to any other selected key signature without interrupting the performance. Such rotation readily can be affected by the performer holding the cylinder in his hands while fingers are disposed in performing position with respect to the contact points.
It is a further object of this invention to align the contact points on helices on the surface of the cylinder, in a manner hereinafter more fully described and to so space the contact points that the performer may contact one, two, three, or four contact points at a time with one finger or a thumb. Furthermore, the contact points are oriented with respect to each other so that those producing consonant sounds are disposed in close association with each other. This orientation is quite different from the orientation of keys producing consonant sounds now characteristic of piano or organ keyboards.
Another object of this invention is to provide an instrument that can produce a drum-like rhythm or a composite of two or more rhythms all under the direct and instantaneous control of the performer with the capability of changing the performed rhythm or subdivisions thereof at will.
These and other objects are contemplated for this invention as will become apparent to one skilled in this art from the accompanying drawings as the following description proceeds.
The following description and the accompanying drawings disclose only one form of this invention and are given here by way of illustration and not by way of limitation and are not to be construed as limiting the invention in any respect not required by the accompanying claims. Other forms are contemplated for this invention as will readily appear to one skilled in this art and familiar with available equivalents in the electronic field.